India’s fight against corruption should get tougher after the country slipped 13 positions to 85 th in the ranking of countries as per their corruption levels released Tuesday by Berlin-based Transparency International. Last year, Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) had ranked India at 72th position. Since 1993, the index ranks 180 countries according to perceived levels of public sector corruption . The CPI scores countries on a zero to 10 scale, with zero indicating high levels of corruption and 10, low levels. High scores indicate less corruption while low scores indicate more corruption.
Last year, India’s score on a zero to 10 scale was a high of 3.5 which declined to 3.4 in 2008 indicating rising corruption levels in the country. For the second year running, Somalia, Myanmar and Iraq received the poorest marks, with Somalia scoring 1.0 and Myanmar and Iraq scoring 1.3 each.
Denmark defended its ranking as the world’s least corrupt nation, along with Sweden and New Zealand. All the three countries scored 9.3. Transparency International (TI) chair Huguette Labelle called the high levels of corruption in low-income countries a humanitarian disaster.
“Stemming corruption requires strong oversight through parliaments, law enforcement, independent media and a vibrant civil society, Labelle said in a statement. When these institutions are weak, corruption spirals out of control with horrendous consequences for ordinary people, and for justice and equality in societies more broadly.
The Berlin-based watchdog estimated that unchecked levels of corruption would add $50 billion—or nearly half of annual global aid outlays—to the cost of achieving the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals on combating poverty.
It urged a more focused and coordinated approach by the global donor community to ensure assistance strengthens institutions of governance and oversight in recipient countries.
Among other competitors of India, Brazil slipped eight spaces in the corruption index to 80 th in 2008 from 72 in 2007, Russia fell 4 places in the standing to 147 from 143, while China standing remained stagnant at 72 nd . USA standing in the world corruption index improved by 2 places and the country was now ranked in 18 th position from the earlier 20 th , while Japan dropped one place to 18 th in 2008.
TI also singled out the performance of some wealthy exporting countries which saw their scores decline from 2007, saying continued evidence of foreign bribery scandals suggested a broader failure by developed nations.
It said statistically significant declines were seen in 2008 in Bulgaria, Burundi, Maldives, Norway and the United Kingdom, which saw its score dip to 7.7 from 8.4.

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